P641: POGIL biochemistry and the inside-out (flipped) classroom

Since students have opportunities to explore concepts in biochemistry from a variety of outside sources, including the internet, educators are no longer viewed as the exclusive expert. By empowering students through encouraging personal responsibility over learning, the flipped classroom reduces “learned helplessness”. Therefore, students do not depend on the instructor to be the sole authority, but instead investigate the key ideas of the topic before further exploring and applying them in the class. This methodology for acquiring prior knowledge shifts the primary role of the educator from instructor to facilitator. Teaching methodology uses guided inquiry in the form of POGIL to promote effective facilitation of the flipped classroom. Principle teaching/learning activities include pre-activity reading log, student’s learning portfolio, aligned learning outcomes to mastery examinations, repetitive-retrieval-usage of central concepts, and medically based problems. The facilitator’s role in this POGIL classroom will be investigated using empirical data from classroom observations and student interviews.